CSK look formidable

Open your favourite cricket website and you will find the top headlines featuring "Global feast over,time for clubbing" what better way to hail the heralding of the IPL,replete with glitz ,glam and every other thing contrary to what the founding fathers of cricket in Great Britain would have scripted. A day before the first ball gets bowled at the chepauk , I have just about found time to ink my views on team lineups of the champions oops! the superkings from Chennai . . At the helm they have the superking himself,one who has achieved the crowning glory in everything ...Champions league,IPL,T20 WC,Test Championship and the recently concluded 5o over format WC and yes I am talking of MS Dhoni. At, the top of the order they have the 'blow hot blow cold' Murali Vijay and the classy Mr.Cricket Mike Hussey who might have to counter the competition from his counterpart George Bailey. At no.3 you have someone who has made the spot his own,the sublime Suresh Raina ,the most most prolific scorer for CSK and also the only one to have crossed thousand runs in IPL. Subramanium Bardinath at no.4 seems a nobrainer considering the how consistently he has been consolidation the innings in the middle for his team for the last three seasons. MS Dhoni's prowess at no.5 more than well known to the world , this makes him an automatic no.5. The injured Dwayne Bravo may have helped the cause of Scot Syris ,the handy utilitarian NewZealander , the young SouthAfrican middle order batsman Du Pleiss and the charismatic Anirudh ,son of the effervescent Srikanth.These three might have to fight it out for the sixth spot. Albie Morkel , with the bat have been giving their innings a strong finish and comes in handy with the new ball too and given the fact CSK had retained him purely on the basis of performance makes him an almost automatic selection at no.7. If Anirudh makes the cut at no.6 ,then two bowler slots will be up for grabs as against two if Styris or Du Pleiss make it. The young and very talented Southee has the ability to make the new ball talk and also fire in yorkers in the death overs . He also has the capability to hit them big with the bat.Suraj Randiv is young talented offie from Srilanka who is no mug with the bat either while Kulasekera is a very tidy operator with the new ball and also has the ability to score a few when called upon. These three will have to fight it out for the no.8 spot. The wile young R Aswin with a bag full of tricks can trouble the best and has the temperament to bowl in the powerplay overs with the new ball.Given his exploist with the national side in the recently concluded World Cup , he is a sure starter at no.9. At no.10 will be a dogfight between the much promising Jakati , young talented Tyagi , DD recruit Yo Mahesh and Joginder Sharma , who will always be known more for the ill fated Scoop Misbah played against him than his bowling.At no.11 Doug Bollinger is an automatic selection given he is hundred percent considering he had to leave the World Cup midway due to injury or else this postion will be thrown wide open . KKR recruit Saha , is expected to warm the benches for most of the tournament as reserve keeper while Vignesh and Vasudevadas would be lucky to get a game. As a fielding side too they are top notch .In Suresh Raina ,Hussey, Badrinath, Anirudh they have personnel who are as fleet as gazelle. While Dhoni's gloves are as safe as post-office deposits, Others are not too far behind either.So expect them to save the 2o runs that make the difference and latch on to the game changing catches. If on paper is anything to go by CSK stand head and shoulders above all.Its no secret now that selectors would have a tough job leaving out a few big names . All in all Chennai Superkings have all the arsenal it takes to go all the way. So come the 8th of April , the whole of Chepauk and indeed the whole of Chennai will go "Chennai superkingskku whisltle podu."